Wang Bugui and his two friends arrived at old street. No one was walking around in the quiet night, and they were only accompanied by gust after gust of cool wind. They were standing outside an old temple, and it looked a little creepy in the darkness of night.

“There’s a Dragon Trapping Well inside? Why is it in a temple, and why is there a bridge beside us?” Wang Bugui asked, feeling perplexed as he had never heard anyone talk about this place when he was traveling in the streets of Beijing. Zhao Changge laughed and explained, “This Dragon Trapping Well was already in the City of Beijing since the Ming Dynasty, and everyone knows about it. Don’t you?”

“I didn’t. From the name of the well, I presume that a dragon is being trapped inside?” Wang Bugui asked somewhat sceptically. According to his master, divine beasts from ancient historical times, such as the true dragon, immortal phoenix, Kun, Peng and qilins had already vanished from Earth a long time ago. The only qilin beast that remained behind was in the Yuxu Pure Land, and it was the only of its kind left.

“I suspect that most likely there’s a dragon in the well. Let me tell you about its story to dispel your doubts,” said Zhao Changge with a laugh. He then told Wang Bugui about the tale of the well and what happened to it during the present era.

The legend began when Liu Bowen and Yao Shaoshi were building the capital city of Beijing. They chanced upon a few whirlpools that could lead to the ocean. An ancient dragon happened to reside there, and Zhu Yuanzhang seemingly angered it when he built his palace close to its home, resulting in it plotting to flood Beijing.

Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Liu Bowen to think about an emergency solution, and the advisor came up with the idea of using the 72 Land Demons Technique to assist Yao Shaoshi is suppressing the ancient dragon. Yao Shaoshi was a Dragon-Subduing Arhat who had descended from the Heavens anyway, and their combined effort caused the dragon to flee in terror to the whirlpool at Beixinqiao. Legend has it that Yao used his Gold Arhat manifestation to engage the dragon in battle, and eventually he managed to seal it in the whirlpool, thus averting the huge floods.

Yao then transformed his precious sword into a steel pillar and stuck it into the well before securing the top of the pillar with a divine chain. He then built a bridge beside the well to cover the whirlpool up. As there was no water underneath, he did not erect starlings around its base. The old dragon was naturally unwilling to be trapped for the rest of its life, and it asked Yao Shaoshi how long it would take before it could go free.

Yao Shaoshi told it that it could leave when the bridge turned old, and the dragon felt that it was reasonable; after all, it could afford to wait for a few years. It did not expect Yao Shaoshi to name it ‘Beixinqiao’ (note to reader: ‘Xin’ in Mandarin means ‘New’), thus it would forever remain new.

The ancient dragon would never be freed, and it could not invoke floods again. Occassionally a few curious folks would go up for a closer look, and they claimed that there was a rumbling and rustling sound if they pulled a little of the chain away. It frightened them so much that they immediately let go of the chain for fear of releasing the dragon.

“This is so strange. Is the dragon still alive then?” Wang Bugui asked, still finding the entire story hard to believe.

Zhao Changge shook his head, expressing that he did not have the answer to his friend’s question. “Yu Wude also told me that the original events could be far more complicated than what we know now. It took more than Yao Shaoshi himself to subdue the dragon. After all, the world had entered into the era of late arts after the Qin Dynasty. What we know as the ‘Dragon-Subduing Arhat who descended upon the mortal realm’ was actually a Buddhist expert of the Voiding Realm.”

“The ancient dragon’s strength should have been at Joint Tao Realm, and one practitioner alone would not have been able to take it on. What really happened that day was much more complicated that we could imagine. Perhaps, they fought the dragon over some magical artifact.”

Wang Bugui nodded slowly; this theory was plausible. “After that, strange incidents kept happening. During World War Two, the Japanese did not believe that there could really be a dragon in the well. They suspected that enemy troops were hidden underneath the bridge,” Zhao Changge continued.

“They sent soldiers to tug at the chain, and they could not get to the end of it even after tugging for a few days. The growling from the well kept getting louder the more they tugged, however. Eventually, the sounds of the chain rustling and the growling from beneath the well grew very loud, and a yellow liquid and the smell of the ocean accompanied it!”

“Eventually, those damned Japanese became afraid. They stopped tugging and allowed the chain to fall back. After that, the sounds subsided.”

Zhao Changge continued explaining, “The second incident happened during the so-called Cultural Revolution. The Red Guards didn’t believe the strange tale of Beixinqiao and vowed to remove the mystical aura surrounding it. Likewise, they opened the well and pulled the chain up, only for the same phenomenon to appear. The Guards were shocked out of their wits and returned the chain back to its original position!”

“The third incident happened only five years ago. There were news reports that the Cheng Jian Group had uncovered an old well as they were excavating the foundation trench for the Beixinqiao Station of the Fifth Rail Line. The well had a diameter of 1.2 meters and it was 2 meters deep. Half of it had already collapsed, and it was situated to the northeastern side of Beixinqiao Road. Construction works avoided the old well on purpose.”

Wang Bugui’s expression turned serious as he heard Zhao Changge explain. Was the dragon still alive? After all, it was now 2008, and the third incident happened only five years ago. “Is the ancient dragon still alive?” Wang Bugui asked his friends, his eyebrows furrowed. Zhao Changge and Lyu Hao spread their palms toward the sky, indicating that they did not know.

Wang Bugui could only sigh. He was a little worried for his friends, and he felt a little uneasy. “If the ancient dragon is still alive, can we come back safely from the well?” he thought.

That said, he was confident of being able to overcome all obstacles and defeat all of his enemies. He rubbed his fists and did not worry further. He believed that he was invincible; such was the confidence he had after 10 years of hard training.

After a short discussion, all three of them began to scale the temple walls. Their speed was incredibly fast, and they arrived at the Dragon Trapping Well in the blink of an eye. It looked very run down, as if it could collapse any time. Yet, there seemed to be an invisible force holding it together.

“Hmm? There seems to be another dimension here,” Wang Bugui said. He had unleashed his Divine Sense after arriving at the well and realized that there was something odd about this place. The aura of Taoist codes pervaded the air, just like Yuxu Pure Land.

“You even managed to notice this; you’re really good. We only realized this after Yu Wude told us. Anyway, he should have also arrived by now,” chuckled Zhao Changge. Soon enough, a person came walking toward them from a distance away.

He was fat and looked around the same age as Wang Bugui and his two friends. He seemed like a plump but cuddly person, but the image was shattered the moment he spoke.

“Hehe, I see we have another helper. We must be aiming for something big this time! There must be wonderful treasure down there. Let me, the Great Formation Master Yu Wude, open a path for you guys. You’ll not have any accidents with me around! I promise that I… ah no, we’ll be perfectly fine!” the fat man said. He looked devious when laughing, and Wang Bugui had the impression that he was somewhat unreliable.

“I say, have you already made the necessary preparations? Don’t leave us scrambling for three days again, like you did at Green City Mountain. We didn’t get anything then, if you recall,” Zhao Changge said as he walked over and patted Yu Wude on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. This time, your grandmaster is well prepared. With me around, there won’t be any mishaps! Hehe…” sniggered Yu Wude as he winked at Zhao Changge.

“Left empty handed after scrambling in the mountains for three days…” Wang Bugui muttered as he looked at Lyu Hao with pity. His friend could only shake his head and covered his face with his hand as he spoke, “We don’t have a choice. Either he’s very reliable, or completely unreliable. Also, we can’t predict when his reliable side will show up. That said, after going for so many treasure hunts with him, we did manage to get some rewards for our effort.”

“A genius!”

Wang Bugui’s eyebrow jumped as he heard Lyu Hao speak. The newcomer was really a ‘genius’ in every aspect, and somehow he managed to catch wind of Wang’s statement. “You have a really discerning eye, young hero! You managed to spot my talent at first glance. Might I be so bold as to enquire about your name, fellow practitioner?” he asked after turning around and laughing.

“I’m known as Wang Bugui,” the youth said with a soft laugh.

“So, it’s fellow practitioner Bugui then. Please pardon me. Honest and discerning people like you are few and far between nowadays,” Yu Wude lamented.

“Sigh. You should know when to stop your nonsense. Let’s see how we can enter the Dragon Trapping Well,” Zhao Changge said as he slapped Yu’s back.

“No problem. Let’s begin now,” Yu Wude said, speaking from the corner of his lips. He then followed the three friends to the entrance of the well.

“Even though there’s another dimension here, it seems to have been blocked by something,” Wang Bugui said as he cupped his chin.

“Right, there’s a magic formation here. Last time, I wasn’t adequately prepared when we came here. Now that I am, watch me break it,” Yu Wude said as he nodded. He then walked up to the well and lifted its cover. A silver mirror appeared in his hand, and he shined it at the cover. A blinding white flash appeared instantly, and Wang Bugui immediately transformed his prana power into extreme Yin aura to barricade the entire area away from public view.

“Extreme Yin aura!” exclaimed Zhao Changge softly. Lyu Hao and Yu Wude looked at Wang Bugui as well, and they were also secretly amazed at how he could easily transform his prana power to extreme Yin energy.

“What great skill, Brother Bugui. Now’s my turn,” Yu Wude said before he began to break the magical seal. It was a tough formation to crack, and his other three companions observed that various Taoist codes and elemental beams of power continuously surging out from within. Yu used various kinds of strange and unknown techniques to disarm them. He was completely unharmed, but the traps delayed him from breaking the seal.

Yu Wude twisted his small round buttocks to the left and right for dozens of times before he finally got up. He had inscribed a few seals on the ground, and he began chanting quickly before pointing. The seal on the Dragon Trapping Well broke open with a resounding clack, and a door made of light appeared.

Upon seeing that, Yu Wude laughed so hard that his eyes formed into a slit. “How about that, have you seen how powerful yours truly is? There won’t be anything wrong with me around!” he said as he turned to face his companions.

“Yeah, great, great. Not only did you not make a mistake this time, you’ve also been very reliable. Your actions are worthy of your title of ‘grandmaster’. From now on, you’re the person most capable of disabling magical formations among us!” Zhao Changge said as he patted Yu Wude’s shoulder. He tried to flatter Yu as much as he could, and it made the ‘grandmaster’ glow with joy. He kept praising Zhao Changge’s discerning eye and looked as pleased as a puppy that had been praised by its master.

Wang Bugui and Lyu Hao were speechless as they watched their friends. Finally, Wang Bugui spoke. “That’s enough. Are you guys going to praise each other till dawn? Let’s go into the well already.”

“Hehe, then we shall stop playing. Now, let Brother Yu bring you to where the treasure is! I see that there are many magical formations down there. Don’t lose sight of me!” Yu Wude said. He had stopped smiling cheekily and strided into the door of light with his hands behind his back and his chest puffed out.

His three friends looked at each other and laughed before following him into the gateway of light